Greta Gar Bitch is the true story of actress Kimber Leigh, who grew up in a highly dysfunctional family. This memoir shows how she turned her life around, from growing up in an environment filled with drugs, alcohol and abuse, to a life lived with love, peace and forgiveness.

Greta Gar Bitch is structured loosely along the events of Leigh’s life story thus far. She describes many events that occurred early on in her life. Some of the events are traumatic and heart-breaking – including the alcoholic rages she endured at her mother’s hand and the suicide of her two brothers. She describes these events with deep sadness, but also cautions us, as readers, not to allow tragedy to define our lives and future. She describes many joys she experienced later in life, by working hard, having confidence in herself and maintaining her spirituality.

The main character in this book is of course Kimber Leigh. She does describe other people who are significant in her life in this book. One person described in detail is Leigh’s mother. Although she caused her family a lot of pain and grief, the author has learned to accept that her mother suffered an illness, and was not always in control of her decisions and actions. Her father is described as a kind and loving man, who was devastated by his wife leaving the family. Her grandfather also features in the book, as he was the one that told Leigh about the actress Greta Garbo. Kimber Leigh also pays tribute to people in her life whose kind actions both small and large had an everlasting impact and helped her to become the successful woman she is today. All of these people were intriguing in different ways, I’m not sure if it was because who they were or because of the fantastic storytelling ability of Kimber Leigh, but in either case these characters feel authentic and because of that the emotions embedded in the story are felt more strongly.

Greta Gar Bitch’s chapters are prefaced by an endorsement and forward. The chapters are headed by inspirational and fitting quotes, which is a nice addition to the book. Most of the chapters are easy to follow. I did find a couple of chapters disjointed, and it was difficult to discern whether Leigh was writing in the present time or the past.

Overall Greta Gar Bitch was an interesting, emotional, but ultimately uplifting read. Although there was pain and loss throughout the journey, there was also plenty to leave the reader feeling hopeful and motivated.

Pages: 169 | ASIN: B07W6XPV65